Lisa Cairns: Awakening, Presence, and Non-Duality

*This page may include affiliate links; that means we earn from qualifying purchases of products.

Lisa Cairns is one of the most recognized contemporary teachers of non-duality, offering an approach that is both radically clear and warmly human. Through retreats, livestreams, intimate book clubs, and a growing online presence, she brings seekers into contact with a profound truth: freedom is not somewhere else, sometime in the future. It is this very moment, shining through every breath, every sensation, every experience.

Lisa Cairns' story is as captivating as her presence. She did not plan to become a teacher, nor did she seek out fame or influence. Instead, her life unfolded in such a way that her experiences of awakening became impossible to ignore, drawing others naturally toward her clarity.

Get The FREE Awakening eBook

✓  Discover what awakening is like 
​✓  Learn about the four stages between awakening & enlightenment
✓  Get exercises to progress 

​Sign up below to get our FREE eBook.

From a Turning Point in Bali to a Global Teacher

Lisa’s awakening story is unusual yet profoundly relatable. In 2011, while in Bali, she was eating a simple dessert—banana fritters with ice cream—when a sudden energetic explosion tore through her sense of self. The experience shattered the illusion of separateness and unveiled the raw immediacy of awareness. In her words, the event wasn’t a product of effort or practice—it simply happened, illuminating what had always been there.

From that moment, her life shifted direction. She began speaking across the globe, in settings both formal and informal. Bookshops, yoga studios, universities, NHS facilities in the UK, theaters, festivals, and even living rooms became stages for her message. Her goal was never to establish herself as a “guru” but rather to share what had become impossible to withhold: the realization that life, as it is, is already complete.
​
Today, while she occasionally travels, much of Lisa’s work happens online. She organizes events that are accessible to people worldwide. Her YouTube livestreams, Sages Book Club gatherings, and immersive retreats form the core of her offerings, allowing seekers to meet her presence in different ways.

Live Streams with Lisa Cairns

Lisa's Path: From Meditation to Awakening

Lisa’s awakening didn’t arrive without preparation. Her earlier years were marked by sincere inquiry into life’s mysteries. At university, she was introduced to meditation by a friend, and soon she immersed herself in Buddhist practice—sometimes meditating for two hours a day and participating in rigorous Vipassana retreats. These experiences helped her see firsthand that thoughts are not the essence of who we are.

Yet she also discovered that structured practice had limits. When she encountered teachers like Tony Parsons and Nathan Gill, she recognized a more immediate and alive presence than anything found in doctrinal study. These encounters deepened her orientation toward what is, rather than what should be.

She also explored the edges of consciousness through psychedelics, an experience that—though not without challenges—brought her into direct contact with profound states of presence and freedom.

Her time in India with Ramesh Balsekar, a disciple of Nisargadatta Maharaj, further shaped her path. Later, she moved to Australia, living in intensive satsang for three years. That period, she recalls, broke her down completely, stripping away every ambition and identity until nothing remained but pure immediacy.
​
The energetic explosion in Bali was the culmination of all these experiences—a dissolving of the seeker’s journey into the living presence of what always is.

The Heart of Lisa Cairns’s Teaching

At the center of Lisa’s message is a radical simplicity: there is no separate self. What we take to be “me”—the bundle of thoughts, stories, and identities—is an illusion. When this illusion drops, even briefly, what remains is spacious, alive, and free.

Unlike some teachers who emphasize abstract philosophy, Lisa emphasizes direct experience. Her sessions often move fluidly between spoken explanations, laughter, silence, and even moments of emotional rawness. She invites participants not just to understand but to feel what is being pointed to.
​
She also emphasizes compassion. Awakening is not a rejection of humanity but an embracing of it. Pain, grief, joy, and love are not obstacles to awakening but expressions of the same field of aliveness. This combination of radical clarity and down-to-earth humanity makes her work deeply relatable.

Comparisons with Other Non-Dual Teachers

Lisa is often compared to Tony Parsons, whose radical non-duality teaching rejects all practices and insists that there is “no one to awaken.” While Lisa shares much of this uncompromising clarity, her style is often warmer and more relational. She is willing to meet people where they are, speaking about trauma, relationships, and daily struggles, while still pointing beyond the personal.

She also shares affinities with Mooji, particularly in her emphasis on presence and the felt sense of love. Yet unlike Mooji’s devotional style, Lisa maintains a more conversational, grounded approach.

This blend of radical non-duality and human warmth makes her a unique voice in contemporary spirituality. She neither rejects the messiness of human life nor pretends that awakening is a personal achievement. Instead, she holds both—the ordinariness of daily living and the boundlessness of awareness—in one inseparable field.

What Spiritual Awakening Looks Like | Lisa Cairns

Universal Consciousness is looking out of your eyes - not you!

Lisa Cairns' Community and Connection

A striking feature of Lisa’s work is the community it fosters. Her retreats and book clubs bring together people from across the world who might otherwise feel isolated in their spiritual exploration. These gatherings create a sense of belonging that balances the radical message of “no-self.”
Her online presence also expands this accessibility. Through YouTube and her website, people who may never attend a retreat still have the opportunity to encounter her clarity. In this way, her teaching lives both locally, in intimate groups, and globally, across digital platforms.

​Why Lisa Cairns Matters Today

In a world marked by polarization, anxiety, and relentless striving, Lisa’s message is profoundly relevant. She reminds us that freedom is not about fixing ourselves or reaching a distant goal. It is the recognition that what we seek is already here.

Her teaching dismantles the illusion of separateness, offering not escapism but deeper intimacy with life as it is. By pointing directly to presence, she helps people discover peace not as a temporary state but as the very ground of being.
​
For many, Lisa Cairns offers both a radical challenge and a profound comfort. Her clarity cuts through the noise of self-improvement culture, while her compassion provides a safe space for people to explore difficult questions. She represents a new generation of non-duality teachers who are not bound to tradition yet carry forward the timeless essence of awakening.

Final Thoughts on Lisa Cairns

Lisa Cairns embodies a rare blend of radical non-duality and human warmth. From her unexpected awakening in Bali to her global retreats and online presence, she continues to remind people that life itself is the teaching. There is nowhere to go, nothing to achieve, and no one apart from this moment.

​Whether through her retreats in Europe, her Sages Book Club, or her spontaneous livestreams, Lisa Cairns invites us to rest in what is already here—presence, freedom, and love. In a divided world, her message is not just philosophical but deeply practical: a call to live fully, openly, and without separation.

Comments on Lisa Cairns

Get The FREE eBook

✓  Discover what awakening is like
​✓  Learn about the four stages between awakening & enlightenment
✓  Get exercises to progress 

​Sign up to get our FREE eBook.